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Rolling over, I reach for my phone and open the home security app. Before the grainy image appears, I slam my cell back onto the nightstand face down. Stop it. Instead, I stare at the clock beside it willing the minutes to tick by faster. I’ve been awake for hours, tossing and turning, unable to get my mind to stop churning. Marco is right, taking the deal Qian offered would cement the Gemini’s supremacy throughout the five boroughs, then why can’t I stomach the thought?
A pair of lively emerald eyes flash across my vision, answering my unspoken question. Maisy. She consumes every waking thought, and even the idea of an arranged marriage with another woman is completely unacceptable.
Because the terrible truth is that I want her and no one else.
But if I admitted that to my brother, he’d lose his shit.
After years of plotting how to destroy Dante and Luca, the answer is now at our fingertips but I’m too obsessed with this woman to reach out and grab it. She would never accept any sort of relationship with me if I were married, even if it was just a business arrangement.
I heave out a breath and drag my hand through my hair.
You’re an absolute fucking idiot, Nico. No one says she’d accept a relationship with you anyway. I’m risking my half-brothers’ certain demise for flimsy wisps of a chance with a woman who despises me.
My hand moves to my phone unbidden. This time I allow myself a quick glance at a peacefully sleeping Maisy. I watched her sleep for half the night like a complete pazzo. I’d gotten so used to the routine that even now that she’s under my roof I can’t seem to stop myself.
There’s something so comforting about watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the faint flutter of her lids and listening for any slight sound that tumbles from her perfect lips. My finger traces the wild locks of red hair framing her face, and my cock hardens as I imagine her soft skin, my lips kissing that milky white flesh, my tongue tasting every inch of her. Fuck. This is getting completely out of control.
Tossing my phone on the bed, I shove the comforter back and slide off the mattress. Maisy is only a few yards away from me. Why should I force myself to settle for a shitty video image when the real thing is only down the hall?
I stalk toward the guestroom, my pulse escalating with each step closer. The door is ajar, the heavy blackout curtains sucking every ounce of light from the room. Irrational fear pummels my insides until I can make out her familiar form curled beneath the blanket. What if she tried to escape? Worse, what if Jasper found her?
This little fox has burrowed her way into my cold, black heart and has sunk her cute claws into my dark soul. I stand there in the doorway, staring like a complete fool. Normally, I would simply take what I want. I want to fuck her so I would. But this woman has me paralyzed and completely out of sorts.
I’m scared to step inside the room and wake her. I’m not the only one not sleeping well. She’s plagued with nightmares of the asshole that abused her both physically and mentally. No physical scars remain, but I’m fully aware it’s the ones that cannot be seen that carry the most weight, that carve deepest into your soul.
Maisy rolls over, a whimper escaping her puckered lips. “No…please.”
The faint cry pierces my heart, and my feet move of their own accord. I creep across the room and perch on the edge of the mattress. “Maisy,” I whisper.
“No!” she cries again, and her eyes snap open.
“Shh, it’s okay, little fox. I’m here.”
“Nico?” Her voice is jagged, laced with fear.
A mix of fury and anguish twist in my gut. I hate that Jasper has caused her so much pain, and I’m furious at myself for not having found the fucker yet. I caress her cheek, running my thumb across her supple skin like I’d imagined doing only a few moments ago.
“Stay with me,” she whispers as she settles her head back down on the pillow.
My heart riots against my ribs.
All the nights I’ve watched her sleep, I’ve never dared lie next to her. I’ve been so damned tempted, but there’s something so intimate about the act of sleeping beside someone. To be completely vulnerable and at their mercy.
In my thirty years on this earth, I’ve never slept with another soul beside my mother and brother when I was young. The sinister side of foster care doesn’t exactly instill a man with trust in humanity.
Another whimper and my heart kicks at my ribs. “Nico…”
That’s it. My name on her lips does me in. I crawl under the covers beside her and she immediately rolls toward me, burying her face in the crook of my shoulder.
My entire body tenses for a never-ending moment. I remain that way, every muscle frozen until she lets out a contented sigh. Her arm slips around my bare waist and holds me flush against her. She’s so soft, so warm against the hard, cruel planes of my body. She couldn’t possibly be more different than me, more different than any woman I’ve ever been with.
I haven’t even fucked her yet and in that moment, I’m certain that the instant I sink my cock into this woman’s warmth, I’ll be ruined. Because she’s too good, too kind, too sweet to be anywhere near a monster like me. But that’s the thing about monsters, we’re too fucked up to care who we drag down with us along the road to damnation.
And this woman right here will be my total undoing.
Movement jerks me from a deep sleep, and my eyes pop open as I instinctively reach for my gun in the nightstand. Only it’s empty. I blink quickly and the dim room coalesces, the darkness illuminated by slivers of light seeping through the curtains. The guest room, not my bedroom. And the movement was the tantalizing redhead sprawled across me.
Bright auburn hair spills across my bare chest, the sight pinching my ribcage and forcing my lungs to work a little harder. Her arm and leg are both slung across my torso, pinning me to the spot. I don’t think I could move even if I wanted to.
